1. Field of Invention
The present invention described and claimed herein relates to systems to manage parking at mechanical, electrical and electromechanicals, intelligent parking meters that may be coin, bill or card operated in particular parking meters that are useful for monitoring individual parking spaces designed to monitor conditions ambient to the parking meter. Such intelligent parking meters may be used for example to monitor pollution by idling vehicles, survey the area about the meters to identify events such as vandalism, accident or any other designated emergency situation, and to monitor volume and flow of traffic to help coordinate traffic light sequencing for facilitating optimum traffic movement. These meters are mounted as single meters in each of a series of parking spaces located along long roadways or in parking lots.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Mechanical, electric, and electromechanical parking meters are known in the art. Automated parking ticket dispensers and fee collection devices are also known in the art and include devices as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,031,991 and 4,183,205.
While these devices fulfill their respective particular objectives and requirements, each lacks a total intelligent parking/pollution! surveillance control system (“T.IP.P.S.”), as described in the present disclosure.